Me at midnight, mid-winter on a TV movie set!

One of the few disadvantages....

of shooting in Vancouver!

Who the hell will read this?

Since I am a voyeur at heart, I love to read what other people are thinking and doing.

Writing about my own thoughts and deeds might be fun for me, but I can't imagine who will want to read my blog.

But what the hell, I'm going to do it and if you read it, that'll be great. If not, that's okay too!

To introduce myself, I am a former freelance newspaper columnist in Vancouver, BC, whose column on the British Columbia movie industry was born in 1991 at The Province newspaper and ran under the titles The Insider and On Location. In 2000 I was invited over to The Vancouver Sun, where I wrote The Backlot, a thrice-weekly column (two in the entertainment section and the third in the business section) until 2007.  During those years, the "Hollywood North" movie industry grew like Topsy and it was big fun to be a part of that.

The Backlot was not a gossip column.  Basically, it covered which movies and TV shows were shooting here, their casts and which roles they were playing.  I did often write about where the stars shopped and ate, but made a point never to invade their privacy or make them angry. I love the business and I love actors and I hope the column was a tribute to that.

In the past couple of years the industry has floundered a bit - threats of a possible Screen Actors Guild strike and the fluctuations of the dollar made producers nervous.  But now, in April 2009, things seem to be improving and since it's known that entertainment seems to survive and even grow during recessionary times, I am told it will be another successful year for the local industry.

In Canada, we are considered a "service industry" for foreign producers. Mainly, they come here to save money on their productions. That is the bottom line. Remember, it's called show "business" for a reason.  They also come here if their show needs pristine wilderness locations and snow.  Not often do we stand in for New York City!  (Oh, except for those scenes in Bird on a Wire, starring Goldie Hawn and Mel Gibson. It's amazing how a few Checker cabs and US mailboxes can turn a Canadian street into 5th Avenue!)

The Backlot was not an easy beat. First of all, producers are loathe to allow local journalists on set. They're much more interested in those who have a much larger audience - think Entertainment Tonight with its 20 million-plus viewers.  And, generally, they don't want publicity until the show airs. But someone writing a column covering what's going on in the industry can't wait that long. Thankfully, over the years I became a trusted confidante to producers and publicists and though often privy to loads of titillating info, I kept it to myself!

Rarely was I invited on the mega-budget productions but since I knew and was trusted by local publicists (another rarity) I sometimes managed the odd interview on those sets. More often I visited the smaller movies and TV shows and wrote about the larger ones from afar, with information garnered from friends in the industry and just general snooping! 

I still visit movie sets on a pretty regular basis - I produce electronic press kits (EPKs) - marketing tools which producers use to promote their films (you'll sometimes see them at the end of DVDs). They consist of interviews with actors, directors, producers and various crew members and behind-the-scenes footage. I also sometimes work as a background actor (extra), which is tons of fun.

I have also been the local stringer/field producer for the show Access Hollywood for the past several years and in that capacity, do visit the big shows, but am restricted from using any information gathered for my own purposes. But the visits do give me an insight into what is happening on those sets, which is often helpful. 

Since I am no longer visiting those sets as local press I am not at liberty to write about what exactly I see there, but I can talk generally.  Perhaps now that I have started this blog, publicists may allow me to make the odd visit to their sets.  And I can keep you informed about what movies and TV shows are shooting in Vancouver.  

I may also write about other things - like travel.   For instance, last fall I took an interesting trip to Havana...and I have 800 photos to prove it!

And last spring, my husband and I travelled to Asia for a month. We stopped into Tokyo for a week, then flew on to Vietnam for three weeks. And I took 4000 photos along the way.

Thank goodness for iPhoto!

I also adore home decor and babies - so this could be a very strange blog.

Til next time....